I recently read a book for class called The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. It was an interesting read because he talked about how many choices stress us out and leaves us incapable of making decisions. Basically, there are two types of people, satisficers and maximizers. Satisficers choose the option that is "good enough" and don't spend hours making a decision. Maximizers are quite the opposite, they can spend hours, days, years, looking for the perfect item, whether it be a car or more the perfect jacket. Sure, a person can be both a maximizer and a satisficer based on the how vital the decision may be.
Another interesting point Schwartz made was if we are able to opt out of the decision we are making after we have made it. For the maximizers out there, being able to take something back after buying it could open many doors, leading them to be more stressed because there is so many potential options. Sounds silly right? I personally love to buy things knowing that I can take them back if they are not what I expected, but for some it may just be too much.
When faced with many choices, Schwartz gives a couple solutions to make the process a little easier. A few being, make yourself some rules. If you have rules to follow, you are already cancelling out some of the choices at hand, making your decision easier. Another is to regret less. Maximizers have a tendency to regret decisions after they have made them, even if they are the right ones! It is important that we control that regretful feeling under control. Lastly, speaking of control, we need to learn how to control expectations. In many cases, lowering our expectations can lead to feeling for satisfied after making a decision. Low expectations, low disappointment!
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